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An Introduction to Felix Mendelssohn

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

(1809-1847)

Select Complete Single Disc for

1

The Hebrides, Op. 26

10:19

Overture

Allegro moderato - Animato

Sir Alexander Gibson

Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25

20:25

2

I

Molto allegro con fuoco -

7:31

3

II

Andante

6:39

4

III

Presto - Molto allegro e vivace - Tempo I

6:11

Howard Shelley conductor/soloist†

5

Wedding March

4:57

from incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61

Charles Groves

6

Capriccio brillant, Op. 22

11:28

Andante - Allegro con fuoco

Howard Shelley conductor/soloist

Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 'Italian'

7

I

Allegro vivace

10:36

8

II

Andante con moto

6:50

9

III

Con moto moderato

6:28

10

IV

Saltarello. Presto

5:47

Walter Weller

A greater prodigy even than Mozart, German composer, pianist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn was composing fully mature works from the age of 12. Stirred by his classical upbringing and inspired by art and nature, his music flows with melodic freshness and inventive orchestration. The energy, clarity and tunefulness of the Symphony No.4, the Italian Symphony has made it his most popular symphony.

Mendelssohn’s exhilarating Italian Symphony is one of the warmest vivacious and most melodic works in the repertoire and has understandably become one of the most famous works in the catalogue. Evidence of his mastery and freshness is so abundant.

The First Piano Concerto is no less appealing, with its catchy tunes, brilliantly exciting writing and romantic sweep-virtuosic rather than profound, overflows with youthful élan. These works are coupled with his most famous and glittering shorter compositions, including his celebrated Hebrides Overture. These famous Mendelssohn works are treated to first-rate performances and sound.

This is marvellous playing in every respect: fresh, sparkling and dashing in the fast movements, poetic and touching in the slower ones. He despatches the Capriccio brilliant with similar aplomb, and the recording balance is admirably judged, with rich, truthful recorded sound

The Penguin Complete Guide

Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto is an entirely delightful and comparatively well-kept secret, conceived in the composer’s head during the journey which led to the writing of the Italian Symphony, and bubbling over with much of that work’s melodic exuberance.